Al Ayn

The beehive tombs at Al Ayn are a set of 21 tombs built in the bronze age in 3rd millenium B.C. during the Hafit and Umm al Nar cultures. The tombs are aligned on a mountain ridge near the Jebel Misht mountain. They are in an excellent preservation status and their shape reminds the one of a beehive. The tombs have not been excavated yet and are very interesting from an archaeological point of view. Together with the neighbouring sites of Bat and Al-Khutm, they form the world's most complete collection of settlements and necropolises from the 3rd millennium B.C. For this reason they have been a UNESCO world heritage site since 1988.
Getting to the Al Ayn tombs is a bit complicated, because they are not properly marked on the streets and the entire site is not developed for tourists. During our visit to Oman we tried to visit also the neighbouring Bat site, but could not find it because there are no street signs and our GPS navigator had incorrect coordinates. From other traveller reports it appears however that the Bat site is in a poor preservation status.